(2) K-3 In her unsourced but amusing retelling, Demi demonstrates Midas's lack of intelligence before his dimwitted wish to have everything he touches turn to gold. There's an irony in Demi's own predilection for gilding; the sumptuous format is calculated to arouse appetites for the beauty of gold, if not its wealth. This handsome book breathes new life into one of the oldest of cautionary tales.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2002

(3) K-3 Illustrated by K. Y. Craft. This sophisticated retelling, set in the Middle Ages, places King Midas in a sumptuous palace and portrays him as a goodhearted, devoted father with an unfortunate obsession for gold. The elaborate oil-over-watercolor illustrations show the wondrous, tragic effects of the golden touch, as Midas's bedcovers, his garden, and then his daughter turn gradually to gold before the reader's eyes.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Juan Wijngaard. Mark's retelling adds an interesting twist to this Greek myth by emphasizing the capricious, dangerous nature of the god Dionysus, who grants King Midas's wish for the golden touch. Omitting Midas's daughter, Mark imaginatively describes the results of the king's wish, including golden grapes that "chimed like bells." The illustrations focus on Midas and Dionysus, depicting them inside a wide, mosaic-like frame that gradually turns gold.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Omar Rayyan. In this comic retelling, King Midas is a bored, greedy, middle-aged man who receives the golden touch from a mysterious stranger only to regret it even before he eats breakfast, having turned the food, and his daughter, into gold. Whimsical gold-washed watercolors crammed with mythological creatures play up the humor in Stewig's interpretation of the Greek myth.

Reviewer: Pamela McCuen